Oh, Japan!

In the midst of the crises going on up north, Japan continues to befuddle, amuse, confuse, and embarrass me in various and nefarious ways. I think I should make note of the most recent of these before I incorporate them into my idea of a "normal" life.

First: April Turnovers. No, they are not a delicious food. Does that even sound like it would be Japanese food? Rather, it approximates a workplace Chinese Firedrill (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_fire_drill). If you work for the government, in particular, there's a good chance that you will be moved around, perhaps even to a different township. You won't have to move, you just have to drive an hour or so out to your job. The idea is to give younger employees more experience in different fields and offices on the one hand. But I have no idea what is on the other hand.

And here's the crazy part. The first day of the new school year around here is April 8. The teachers don't learn whether they get to stay at their old school or will be transferred to a new one until March 16. Yeah, that's right. You have 3 weeks to say goodbye and prepare to change schools. Less than that if you want to do any work before school actually starts.

The other thing that finally got to me: Japanese drivers. Since I'm out in the country side, I don't usually run into a lot of the bad ones (though some would argue there is no other kind of Japanese driver), but the other day I just had it. Japan has a large elderly population. A great many of these are still behind the wheel of a car (despite the fact that many of the obaasans, or old ladies/grandmothers, can barely see over the steering wheel). Frustration #1. Frustration #2 is the habit of driving outside the lines on a two way street. Usually this is done on windy roads with no lines drawn, and I can understand not clinging to every left curve of the street. BUT WHEN YOU ARE IN MULTILANE TRAFFIC DO NOT VEER OUT OF YOUR LANE, ESPECIALLY SINCE PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO PASS YOU!!!! There must have been other traffic infractions that day, because otherwise I would not have literally started screaming my frustrations at Japanese drivers while I was in the car. The good news is, 90% of the time, it's not this bad.

I have a few more stories to tell, I think, including graduation day (SOOO much ceremony and bowing!), a couple of dinner parties, a jazz band concert, and a fire festival (of which there are many blurry pictures). Until then!